South Jersey Skies: Opportunity rocks!

The roving probe Opportunity recently celebrated its tenth anniversary on the surface of the planet Mars.

This is not a small achievement. We’ve sent dozens of probes of various kinds to the Red Planet, and more than half of them failed for one reason or another; Mars is not an easy target! But once a Martian probe arrives in good condition, it tends to last a long time.

Landing on Mars in January of 2004, Opportunity and its sister rover Spirit had an official, expected, working lifetime of about 90 days. Mission scientists would have been very happy to see them operate for a year.

View full size"Jelly Donut Rock": images of the Martian surface taken by Opportunity on Dec. 26 and Jan. 8. The white rock, "Pinnacle Island," may have been pushed into position by the rover's wheels. Or maybe it's a hamburger wrapperâÂÂ¦

Spirit got bogged down in the sand, facing too far away from the Sun to obtain sufficient solar power, in 2010, long after its “factory warranty” had expired. But Opportunity rocks on, studying the chemistry and geology of our neighboring world, after 10 exciting years and six harsh Martian winters. I wish NASA contractors had built my automobile!

The rover is setting records. Traveling at a maximum speed of two inches per second, Opportunity has traveled more than 24 miles across a variety of different kinds of territory. This has allowed scientists to investigate different geological (areological?) layers, and thereby study different periods in Mars’ past.

The rover is even winning awards. Two years ago the magazine Popular Mechanics gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to Opportunity and Spirit!

It’s still making news. Last month it found a small, bright white rock lying on the surface, about the size and shape of a jelly doughnut, that was not present in a similar image taken eight days earlier.

Mission scientists have suggested the rock, dubbed “Pinnacle Island,” was churned up from below by one or two of Opportunity’s six wheels as it traveled over the area. But this could be something new and exciting, too, so the rover is continuing its close-up observations of this surprising object.

In November Opportunity, along with four other spacecraft currently active on and above Mars, will take a look at Comet Siding Spring as it makes a very close approach to Mars. It’s possible the head of the comet will actually overlap the planet, so Opportunity may give us yet another unique observation.